Alator roared, spine and shoulders glistening blood that looked black in the darkness, steam rushed from his back and ridged neck and I saw the ends of his red hair curl, drying with the heat of his body.

  His grip was taut around the fiend’s neck, and it gave a blinding effort and it leaned its full weight into him, rearing on its back legs, and lashed out with both claws. Blood burst from my companion’s sides as they were raked to the ribs, and he relented the grip.

  The Gloaming Angler gave another gurgling howl and backed away as Alator fumbled, folding itself into the fog. With its one bulging, lidless eye swivelled around in its massive socket, regarding us all. It began to disappear into the fog, and its tail came forwards again, gleaming that sickly yellow that emanated an unnatural warmth. Again, I found myself longing for the glow, but my fury and pain drowned it out.

  We won’t make it out of here as we are. This fiend would never let us leave Nyl-Vasha. It needs to die!

  “Alator! It’s scared of pain, get its tail!” I said. My voice called through the silence fog like lightning, and Alator snapped out of his pain and beat his chest. The yellow flash from his eyes lit the surrounding fog like a torch, and he set off at a wounded sprint, spattering red, towards the shadow of the thing.

  I ran after him as fast as I could. After a few steps, one foot dropped through the brackish blackness to the thigh and I had to pull myself up again. Finding them, Alator was locked in another death grip with the fiend, wide stance, arms crossed around one of the Angler’s bulky grey forelegs.

  The beast howled again and its tail whipped up straight into the air as if it knew our plan — or just because of its caution.

  No time to be sure!

  Shocking my nerves with another [Vigour], I reached them both after a beat. It tried to spin around to put Alator between us, but with a roar and a heave, Alator pulled it upwards off balance and it teetered in the air.

  No point saving resources!

  [Weapon Mastery : Precision Strike] thrust my arm forwards and the Skill chose its target: the spearhead plunged and near disappeared fully into the beast’s haunch, metal rasping on its hip. I took the spear in two hands and wrenched it free, splattering gouts of blood down its side and onto the brush.

  It howled awfully, a rippling yelp, and its muscles contorted and twisted as its massive eye flickered between fight and flight, and — for better and worse — settled on FIGHT. Its form churned and Alator’s grip was thrown free. It then launched itself full-bore at me, clashing head-first into my guarding spear, then one of its long, wet, leathery legs curled over the top of the spear towards my already wounded shoulder.

  Because of the pain, the spear faltered a little in my grip, but the last gasp of [Vigour] flowed out of my mind’s eye and I dug my heels into the dirt and redoubled my effort, pushing the thrashing dagger-like claws away from me as they searched and reached for flesh.

  Holding near half of the fiend’s weight up, my sandals sunk fully into the marsh. Then I felt a massive rush of magic, a hot breeze warmed my back and thighs as arcane energy flowed out from Lenya, but instead of the release of a spell, I heard a faltering wail. I glanced behind at her. She had dropped to her knees and was teetering even there. Blood flowed from her nose and her face was white cold with effort — full exhaustion.

  “I’m sorry — I can’t,” I heard her say over the bedlam.

  I could do nothing to reassure her — didn’t feel like I should.

  Have to do it myself!

  With my good side, I heaved the haft of the spear up and across and threw the Angler almost onto its side, heavily on two legs. Trying to find its balance in the deep black water, it frenzied and snarled for a moment, then dropped low and turned, making another attempt to escape. As it did, the tail with the forgotten yellow light quivered and moved through the air, low enough for Alator to leap four yards into the air, sailing, and catch the whipping tail in both fists.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Without a second thought, I dragged one foot out of the mud, feeling it squelch and pull, and stabbed again, hitting the demon horse fully in the side, and I plunged the blade deep and held it there.

  Alator, aloft, drew the thick, leathery tail down to his face and bit down with his wolven teeth. His eyes flashed yellow and TORE through it. Blood burst from the stump like arterial spray and with a muted gurgled groan the Gloaming Angler fell instantly to the ground, near catatonic. Black water splashed out beneath its massive length, all eleven yards of it.

  Every muscle twitching in pain, it had trouble righting itself, and its massive reflective eye lost some of its energy, as if becoming unthinking, more bestial.

  Drawing back the Bronze Spear of Blinding again, with both hands, I shouted over the pumping blood in my ears and the searing pain in my shoulder and plunged it deep into the beast’s long neck. Through the haft of the spear, my arms, held steel, felt the rushing and tensioning of sinews and bone.

  For a few heartbeats, the Angler thrashed wild, then stilled.

  The spear fell from my hands and I dropped to my knees in the marsh, and roared wordlessly to the sky. Then my vision pinholed, eyes burning, and I felt intense cold seeping through every pore and along every vein and nerve. The fog darkened around me, the faces of my companions blurred, and then I felt only cold.

  . . .

  Crack. The cracking of bones? My bones? Did it eat me after all?

  Crackling. My eyelids were so heavy, stuck closed as if with glue, but dragging them open a sliver I saw yellow warmth, cast shadows, figures, a crackling fire, and I overheard voices, smattered against the rough, hollowed cavern of my consciousness:

  “. . . carried him here . . .”

  “. . . not in a good way . . .”

  “. . . nothing we can do but pray to the Kaila Leuxs . . .”

  . . .

  When I next came to, I saw the suns had risen. Harsh white light punctured the dark and burned red through my eyelids. Squinting, I opened my eyes and saw through bleary exhaustion only startling light — then the cavernous roots above my head.

  “Talbot!”

  A beautiful, concerned voice called my name, and a shadow covered the painful light. Almost silhouetted, a lovely elven face looked down at me, tearful, red-eyed, covered in scratches and fresh bruises.

  Lenya put a hand to my forehead and leant down and kissed me on the cheek.

  “Talbot, I’m so glad!”

  I put my hand behind me to strain myself up and felt a PULSE of horrible agony, dropping me back to the ground.

  “Take it easy,” came Alator’s voice.

  Looking at my shoulder, I saw they’d stripped my Linothorax from me and bandaged my shoulder up tight.

  “How’s it look?” I croaked.

  Lenya cast her eyes aside and bit her tongue.

  “You’ll live,” Alator said bluntly.

  “You shouldn’t use it for a while. I have dressed it, and Akishen had some herbs that stopped the bleeding, but we’re not healers.”

  I grunted. Moving slowly, I used my other arm to prop myself up and dragged my body backwards to lean against the cold, slimy root wall. As I did, I felt a sharp pain run up my sternum with every breath, and leaning forwards had me wince.

  “What time is it?”

  “An hour before noon,” came another voice. Akishen, with her mandrill features and wearing a concerned look, stepped from the light to the dank space and squatted next to me. “You’re in an awful state, a rib broken, at least, and your arm’s hanging by a thread.”

  “It’s not that bad,” Lenya shot her a dirty look.

  Akishen scoffed and smiled.

  “But you brought her back. You saved her, hero,” she laughed, and couldn’t help herself punching me in my good arm. The impact was numb.

  “We’ve got to move,” I rasped between pained breaths.

  “We can’t! You need —”

  “Indeed,” Alator cut across her. “You can rest on the trail, but for now, suck it up. We need to leave the marsh before nightfall.”

  “Thanks for the sympathy,” I grinned, sparking a new wave of stinging and tearing suffering through my body. My spear was beside me. I took it in my good arm and went to stand. Lenya rushed to my side and helped me up, then looped my arm around her shoulders and started leading me towards the root.

  The size difference made the steps awkward, and each left foot down had me lower my shoulder and grit my teeth in pain, but the warmth of her skin and the smell of her hair put me off complaining. Out of the root cavern, the suns’ light was warm and welcoming. The approaching noon had burnt away a lot of the fog, but it still remained swirling like milk in tea around the deep pools and damp mounds of earth.

  “I’ll take him,” Alator came to my side and lifted my weight off Lenya’s shoulder. “It’s easier if you’re taller.”

  “By like an inch,” I mumbled.

  “Okay,” he said.